Family of Man Who Died from COVID After Wife's Workplace Infection Can Sue for Wrongful Death, Second District Holds
California's Second District Court of Appeal held Tuesday that the family of a man who died from COVID-19 after his wife contracted the virus at work can sue her workplace, See's Candies, for wrongful death, holding that the suit isn't preempted by the exclusivity provisions of the state's Workers' Compensation Act (WCA).
Matilde Ek and her three daughters sued See's Candies over the April 2020 death of her husband, Arturo Ek, from COVID-19. According to the lawsuit, Matilde contracted COVID-19 in March 2020 while working on the candy company's packing line and gave the virus to her husband. The suit claims the company did not implement appropriate social distancing measures on that packing line to prevent the spread of the virus.
The lawsuit, filed in December 2020 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleged general negligence, premises liability, and wrongful death.
In the wake of the tragedy at the Houston Astroworld music festival, many people wonder what, if any, legal duty of care should be imposed to protect concert goers? In California, a court of appeal has held that operators of music festivals have a special relationship with its invitees and owe them a duty of care under California Civil Code § 1714 because they depended on the operator to provide medical care and adequate security. Dix v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., (2020) 56 Cal.App.5th 590. The Dix opinion was issued a few months before the California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Brown v. USA Taekwondo (2021) 11 Cal. 5th 204, which clarified the analysis used to determine if a defendant has a legal duty to take action to protect a plaintiff from injuries caused by a third party.
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